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I've had anxiety and depression off and on all my life, but this past year has totally kicked my butt. I'm at the point where I can barely function too many days of the week. I wake up most mornings with anxiety that makes my heart race so badly it gives me a headache. My thoughts are going ninety miles a minute and I have difficulty forcing myself to get up. Some days it gets better as the day goes on but other times I get very little relief.
I can't continue to live like this and I want to get some help. I'm not ruling out talk therapy at some future time, but right now I need and want meds. Something so I can think straight and get some restful sleep.
I haven't been to a doctor in at least ten years so I have no idea where to start. A couple of my friends recommended their doctors but when I called for an appointment, they weren't taking new people.
What should I do? Try a doctor from the phone book? Will a primary care doctor be willing to help if I haven't been in before? For those of you who have meds, how did you get started?
A primary care physician is a good place to start, a physical cause for your depression should be ruled out before you begin treatment. Tell the physician that your anxiety and depression prompted you to seek help.
They will do a full history and basic tests, this is important given that you have not seen a doctor in 10 years. The primary can then refer you to the specialists you require..
This is a really good first step in your pursuit of relief.
Check the phone book or Google, and walk-in to a Mental Health Clinic or Hospital and ask to be evaluated.
Are you feeling suicidal? If you state that, then by law, they can't deny their service.
I'm not suicidal. Anxiety and depression tends to run in my family so I'm 99 percent certain my problems have a biological cause. This is partly why I prefer meds over talk therapy for starters.
Right now I just want to be able to get out of bed in the morning without feeling like a nervous wreck and dreading the day. Feeling as if there is hope for the future would be nice too. I have a great husband and family and I feel like a phony with them because I spend a ton of energy hiding the fact that I feel on the verge of a nervous breakdown at least half the time.
Just an update. Went to a doctor this morning and I'm thoroughly disgusted. She minimized my symptoms and did nothing but write a script for estrogen replacement. I told her that estrogen hadn't helped in the past but she ignored me. She said if was still bad in three or four months to come back.
I told my husband that if it gets bad enough that I end up doing something stupid everyone will shake their heads and say how sad that I didn't try to get some help. I tried and it was a dead end. I don't have the money to run from doctor to doctor until someone takes me seriously so apparently I can just deal with this and be miserable.
Did you go to a general doctor? If you have symptoms of anxiety and depression, you should make an appointment with Mental Health provider, go to Mental Health clinic.
Do you have health insurance? I know that with mine I am able to go to the website and do a search for mental health providers or primary care physicians. I am not sure if other insurance provider sites are like this, but on mine there is an option for doctors that are accepting new patients. Write a list of all of the symptoms that you experience so that you do not forget anything when you go for a visit. Don't stop until you find someone that is willing to take you seriously. Having anxiety myself, I know how disruptive that it can be to one's life and I find a combination of meds and cognitive behavioral therapy helps.
Never give up. I know a couple of people who dealt with the same kind of brush-off, but they kept at it. One of them went to a hospital, went up to the front desk, and acted as crazy as she knew how (without threatening to do anything) and another just kept going to the hospital and would stop staff members in the hall and tell them she needed help until someone listened to what she was saying. Neither were suicidal, but they both knew they needed help and were going to ask for it until they got it.
Anxiety and depression usually have a PHYSICAL cause, making it no different from any other ailment. Would a doctor brush you off if you came in with kidney stones or a heart attack? The medical profession in general doesn't seem to do a good job with issues that can't be tested and viewed on an x-ray or MRI. At the very least, this doctor should have offered you a referral to someone who would take your concerns seriously.
If you have a local mental health center, call and ask if they have someone on staff who does more than offer counseling. Your local hospital may also be a good place to call and see if they have a referral service for someone who wants more than talk therapy.
You shouldn't have to go to extremes to get some help.
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